Malleus Maleficarum
The Malleus Maleficarum, or Hammer of the Witches, is the 'classic' handbook for the study, examination, and prosecution of accused witches. The Maleficarum was a thing of horror among the common people of ages past, so it's strange how today it's sort of like a cultural icon. The Maleficarum has become a staple of literary fiction regarding witchcraft, especially since it sheds light on a very dark and superstitious period in human history. The short of it is that the Maleficarum was written circa 1486 by two German Dominican monks, Heinrich Kramer and Jacob Sprenger. There actually had been previous witch hunting manuels before the Maleficarum, but the dynamic Dominican duo happened to publish their seminal tome shortly after Gutenberg's revolution of the publishing industry. As such, the Maleficarum was quickly disseminated through European society and so became the go-to for witch hunters everywhere. The book itself is divided into three sections, with the first section essentially a theological treatise on the supposed nature and power of witchcraft. The second section deals with harm caused by witchcraft (superstition is like heresy and leads good Christians astray, also it may attract devils who will use their power to influence negative things in the world). The third section gets to the meat of the subject and deals with the prosecution of witches in a court of the Church. It should be noted that the Malleus was written in a time when the Church, which had previously seen witchcraft as mere superstition, now began to see it as a serious threat to society. If devils were real, and witches cavorted with them, then witchcraft could make the jump from mere annoyance in the Church's eyes to outright threat. And that simply wouldn't do. Facts: -The Maleficarum basically says that devils or demons are real, but since they are spirits, they can't affect material things directly. -Our dear Dominican writers reject alchemy and claim that, arguing from the vaunted saints of yesteryear, that the fabled transmutation of alchemy is impossible (it's not, but I'll save that for a later post). -The Devil does exist, for the Maleficarum uses the proof of natural evils such as death and disease and other freak things. Apparently the idea that God allows these things on His own is alien to these Catholic theologians, but I guess I just have a grim outlook on life. -Strangely, the Maleficarum does touch on 'science' to some degree. The writers recognize that a 'lodestone' can attract metals (ie, it's a magnet of some kind) but they claim that it attracts metals through some unknown power or is the work of spirits. -In a bizarre twist the Maleficarum endorses astrology. They claim that because astrology warns of events which come to pass, they recognize it as true. This actually doesn't surprise me since even Popes had used astrology during the dark ages. Apparently churchmen at that time regarded astrology as more of a 'science' than a form of magic like we do today. Category:Magick Category:Inquisition Category:Covenant Network Category:Church Category:Codex